forum ‘A Raven with Blood on its Wings’ // OxO // OPEN

Started November 26, 2022 by @Emmrii

tune

“I won’t see you again, will I?”

"You will. Eventually." he replies, taking another swig of the bottle.

He stands up, looks at the bottle, then throws it on the ground, where it shatters, wine staining the old wood.

The first outburst he'd had in a while.

Afterwords, he stares at the ground.

“Hey, hey. It’ll be okay…” She stood up and gently embraced him. “We’ll be okay.”

He clings to her tightly, not wanting to let her go.

"How can you say that? I'm losing my best, my only, friend in this city."

“We’ll see each other again.” She gently rubbed his back. “I swear.”

"How? When? Where?" he asks, leaning back to stare at Reia.

“I- I don’t know, but I’m sure we will…”

Zeeshan slowly shakes his head.

"I'll go find you, then. . . I can settle my life here, and go find you when that's done. Okay? Go far away from this city, this country. Start a new life, or create a new Resistance. I'll go find you." he says softly.

She let out a sigh and stared down at her feet. “You promise…?”

He tilts her head back up and looks her square in the eyes.

"Promise." he nods.

She gently hugged him, staring out at the ocean.

He hugs her back, her thinner frame fitting easily against his bulkier one.

After a few minutes, he lets her go.

"Go get your suitcases packed. I'll be along later with a car." he says softly.

“Thank you.” She forced a smile. “I’ll see you later then.”

He nods, and disappears quickly.

Later on, she was in her home, busy packing her suitcases.

Zeeshan shows up with an unmarked car; no license plates, no identifying scrapes and no identifying paint job. There wasn't even a brand on it.

He knocks softly at the door.

Reia opened it. It was clear she had been crying. “Oh. Hey.”

He takes a look at her face and gently pulls her into a hug.

"Hey yourself."

She hid her face in his shoulder for a few moments. “I’ll miss you.”

"And I you. . . but we need to focus. Are you done packing yet? If not, I'll help." he replies.

“Almost. I have a few bags in my room I need to get up.”

He nods, letting her go and stepping fully into the house, closing the door.

He strides back into her room - he'd been in the house enough times that he knew the layout.

She sighed and began to get her belongings up. Once she finished, she reached over and kissed his cheek. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

He nods, blushing slightly.

He slips a small metal band into one of the cases - a simple ring - when she's not looking. He knew she'd find it, just not until she got out of the city.

Then he takes the suitcases and brings them out to the car.

She sighed and sat down in the driver’s seat. “It’ll all be okay, I swear.”